South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
The number of acutely malnourished children under the age of five across South Sudan has increased from 2.1 million to 2.3 million—a 10.5% increase, representing an additional 218,000 malnourished children, according to a new report.
The latest report from the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC)—the leading global authority on the severity of hunger crises—released in Juba on Friday, said that conflict, climate change, and poverty have pushed 2.3 million children into life-threatening acute malnutrition.
Save the Children warned that the situation would worsen amid slashing of funds to Africa’s youngest nation.
Of the 80 counties in which data was collected, 62 (78%) recorded a general deterioration in acute malnutrition, according to the IPC.
“Children are always the most vulnerable in food crises, and without enough to eat and the right nutritional balance, they are at high risk of becoming acutely malnourished,” said Save the Children.
Chris Nyamandi, Save the Children Country Director in South Sudan, said this comes as foreign aid cuts have brought lifesaving programmes across South Sudan—one of the world’s most aid-dependent countries—to a standstill.
“When there is a lack of food, children’s bodies become a battleground. The impacts of malnutrition—stunting, impeded mental and physical development, and increased risk of contracting deadly diseases—can be life-shattering,” Nyamandi said in a statement issued on Friday.
“These latest figures are a cry to donors: please, see what happens to children when you let humanitarian crises take hold. Please, don’t leave the children of South Sudan behind. This is about survival for today—but it is also about hope for tomorrow, to build a better world.”
Malnutrition can cause stunting, impede mental and physical development, and increase the risk of contracting deadly diseases.
Earlier this year, Save the Children reported that at least 110,000 severely acutely malnourished children supported by the aid agency in ten countries, including South Sudan, could be left without access to life-saving ready-to-use emergency food and nutrition programmes as aid cuts hit supplies in the coming months.
The charity also reported that at least five children with cholera in South Sudan had died on an arduous journey to seek medical treatment after aid cuts forced their local health services to close amid a major outbreak of the deadly disease.
